Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1887-04-16
BEAFNa RLILRoap.
81 Il QUAD


Down ia New York State there "a q
railroad called the Rome. Watsrtovu
and Some Other Place Railroad. Ibe-
heve the other place Is OgdansburQ.
Last summer occasion required that j
should use this road for about sixty
miles, and left Rome one morning
toeilng at peace with AL mankind. The
conquctoF came along ia due time to
take up the tickets, and made Il e
point to ask him if We we're on time. I
didn't care a copper whether we were
two hours ahead or two hours behind
time, but wanted TO exhibit q friendly
spirit and let him know that I was in
terested IN his welfare. A passenger
who won't show his hand to q eonduc-
tor ought to be made to ride In the
baggage car. BE uttered q grant In
reply to my question and passed on.
II ne was too OYerWOrked and heart
broken TO utter q yes OK no that WAS
not my fault. He put q green ticlret in
The band Of my hat to show that I was
cash passenger, and / went to sleep
70 dream that a mad populace were
about to hang Jay Gould because he
didn't pay his railroad conductors a
salary Of Sd, 900 a year.
I1cketl" yelled q voice IN my ear.
and aWoke to find the broken-hesrted
conductor towering above me.
What do You want ?"
Your ticketl"
Gave it to you an hour ago"
Where's your check2"
in my hat.
See here, young man, growled the
broken-hearted conductor, Il want
your check or your fareP
The check was not in my hat. 1t
was not in any OF my fourteen pockets.
IL was not on the seat or the floor, nor
above nor beneath the earth. It took
ten minutes to satisfy the OverWOrked
conductor Of this fact
@But 1 had it, I persisted.
Il doubt it.
Don't you remember of my asking
you when you took my ticket, if we
were on timer"
mo, sirl If / had ever been asked
such a question as that I should have
surely remembered it.
This man here must have seen my
ticket, for I saw him looking into my
wallet"
aYOu ARE a liarl" promptly responded
the passenger, who had the seat be-
hind me.
@And you must either pay your fare
or get of, ," added the conductor.
Look here, old fellow, bought my
ticket in the regular way, handed It
over according to rule, and the fact that
have kept my seat for sixty miles is
evidence that You received the ticket.
Don't make a side-shoW of yourself
about the check, which is but a bit Of
cardboard, anyhow. I have always
sympathized with conductors as a poor
but strictly honest lot Of men. 1 feel
that you are OverWOrked and over
burdened, and that you are many times
the object of unjust suspicious. When
make my viii 1 shall remember at
least twenty-five conductors to the ex-
tent of -H
Il want that checkl1
Il haven't got it.
Then 1 want your fare!"
u have paid it once.
He reached up and seized the bell
rope and demanded;
viii you pay2"
Not to-day"
He pulled the cord, and the train
came to a stand-still in about a quarter
of a mile.
@Now, then, of with you'll"
You'll have toput me OH. I've paid
my fare, and if I go of want a show
for a suit for damages"
He beckoned for the brakeman. I
have always sympathiZed with the
brakemen as class, believing them to
be gentle-minded creatures who suf-
Tered and endured simply to keep trains
running for the convenience Of the pub
lie. The brakeman came, and the pair
helped me down the aisle and dropped
me OF among the daisies. / sat down
on the grass, and as the train moved |
OF the conductor remarked:
Next time you try this dodge on me !
you'll get badly thumpedl"
sat there for twenty minutes, and |
then the rear end of the train as it !
backed up came into view. 1t stopped |
opposite me, and the conductor came |
down and said:
IA y dear sir, beg a thousand par !
dOnsl We found your check under the !
seat, and have come back for you'll"
Then I had a check?"
"You didl@
@And am not a dead-beat?"
arel'
%But You put me of, and 7 want
damages from the companyI8
Say, don't do It'll You'll ruin mel |
I've got two children sick with scarlet |
fever, a wife who is bed-ridden, q |
mother who needs my support, q
father"
got aboard and the train went on.
The man who had called me a liar
begged my pardon, the brakeman |
wanted to adopt me for his own son,
and dozen passengers came to shake !
hands and say that my magnanimous |
spirit would surely be rewarded IN |
heaven.-DetrOtt Free Press.